Sildaan stood too. She gazed up at the beauty of the Gardaryn, the beetle. A thousand years of debate and, yes, she supposed, history. Obsolete now and a dangerous symbol of a way of life that had to change. She breathed deeply and closed her eyes briefly.
‘It is.’
‘Right. Keller, over to you. Set inside and out. I want this inferno seen from Balaia.’
‘Consider it done.’
Sildaan stood. ‘You’re sure they’ll hear me? You’re sure I’ll be safe?’
‘This is going to be something no one will ever forget.’
And so it was that Sildaan stood on the steps of the Gardaryn a short while later. Above her, Gyal’s tears fell with outraged ferocity. Behind her, the flames of the Gardaryn, tinged with the brown colour of human magic, roared into the dark sky. In front of her, twenty thousand elves howled their fury, impotent to act, helpless to save their most beloved building. And when she opened her mouth, with spell shields behind her keeping back the fires and more spells cast to amplify her every word, her voice echoed across the piazza and out into the city.
‘Elves of Ysundeneth, hear me. Those of you in front of me now and locked terrified in your homes or cast out onto the streets. Hear me. I am Sildaan, scripture priest of Aryndeneth. I am the mouthpiece of Llyron, high priest of Shorth, who is, from this moment on, ruler of the elven nation of Calaius.’
The statement stilled the howling of the crowd more surely than Yniss appearing before them and putting a finger to his lips. The drumming of the rain and the hissing and roaring of the Gardaryn as it burned were thundering background to Sildaan’s oration.
‘The harmony is dead. The fragile belief held by many against the true nature of the elf has been torn to shreds. The true nature of Takaar, he who once walked with gods, has been revealed, and he has rightly been denounced along with his laws. We have all seen in the past days the real soul of the elf. It is in separation. It is in every thread to their own community. It is in power based on longevity.
‘The Ynissul were put here by Yniss himself to rule. Wisdom can only be built by the immortal. Wisdom that can bring genuine peace to our race can only be handed down by those who have lived long enough to understand it. Elves have lived for a thousand years with the knowledge that those of other threads who deal with them do so through a thin veneer of brotherhood.
‘Order, from this moment forth, will be restored. There will be no further violence between the threads. Know this. Those working for the Ynissul have the authority to act with any force necessary to keep the peace in our streets.
‘Go back to your homes and wait for instructions. Know this. Until we re-establish the markets, your food and clothing and other essential needs will be serviced centrally by the harbour master. The operation of black markets and other measures of extortion amongst threads will be dealt with severely. Expect announcements on the living quarters for each thread. Some of you will be relocated. I suggest you gather all that is valuable to you or risk losing it.
‘Assets no longer in your gift if your thread is short-lived will be returned to the Ynissul for correct distribution as status demands. Other announcements will follow regarding employment and access to areas of the city, the temples and the rainforest. Any of you living in a mixed-thread partnership will be separated and your bastard offspring given to the temple of Shorth for education.
‘You have all read the history of our race. You have all heard the stories. Yniss created this earth and the lesser gods to serve him. He created the Ynissul to rule the elves and the lesser threads to serve them. So shall it be again. So it is from this day forward.
‘In the name of Yniss and his servant on this earth, Llyron, I make this statement. Peace and your god be with you.’
Sildaan walked from the steps, and before the dam of emotion burst, all she could hear was the sound of Ysundeneth weeping quietly.
Chapter 29
Strike the earth where your enemy lays his head. Defeat lies in the absence of certainty and security. The music of loss played on unchanged in the temple of Shorth. The musicians set in their dozen acoustic alcoves caressed their bamboo pipes with lips and fingers. The beauty of death filled the air. The priests and temple keepers, the Senserii and the scripture readers continued as they had done for millennia. For Shorth, there was no society, no pecking order of threads, no misery or joy. There was only life or death.
In Llyron’s chambers, change was complete and total. A banquet was laid out on her dining table. White wine and wheat beer stood in flagons on tables around the edges of the room. Conversation was focused on the immediate problems of ruling Ysundeneth and wider Calaius.
‘How long before we receive messages back from Tolt Anoor and Deneth Barine?’ asked Llyron.
She was standing with what had become, for now, her inner circle. There were however many more senior priests in the rainforests making the necessary announcements and changes who would sit higher up the table than any of Sildaan, Hithuur and most certainly Helias.
‘We can expect early indications in perhaps five days. Most likely it’ll be ten and above before we’ll know anything certain about the success or otherwise of our plans.’ Sildaan took a sip of wine. Llyron had noticed that she imbibed very little, keeping her eyes on Garan and his mage Keller. ‘We have no humans in either city to do what we did today so there will be a far longer period of ghettoisation and conflict among the threads.’
‘All well and good so long as the faithful Ynissul are removed to safety,’ said Llyron.
‘It is the central strand of everything we are doing,’ said Sildaan. ‘All the faithful priests running the rainforest will make stops at both cities. The Tuali sympathisers we seeded in the Al-Arynaar forces ten years ago are ready. But there will inevitably be more bloodshed before order is resolved in the right way.’
Llyron nodded. ‘Much work for Shorth to do. And interesting experiments in anarchy and a chasm in leadership giving rise to a clutching at any new hope by ordinary elves.’
‘You sound like a textbook,’ said Garan.
His mouth was full of food and a large wooden cup of wine was in his hand. Keller moved with him like his shadow.
‘I am a student of history,’ said Llyron evenly, moving away fractionally towards her three Senserii. ‘I am also a student of warfare. Perhaps you could tell me how it is that you plan to keep this city as quiet as it currently is and, perhaps more importantly, how you intend to deal with our TaiGethen problem.’
Garan smiled. ‘Both are, of course, inextricably linked. We expect and are ready for attacks by the TaiGethen at any time. We’ve been caught out once today but my people will shortly begin to lay magic-based traps and set up observation posts to warn of incoming enemies.
‘I have had personal experience of exactly how skilled these Ynissul are. So don’t worry that I’m being naive. But they have no defence against magical attack, and their numbers are small.
‘We will kill from long range any who approach or enter the city. We will continually seek out their hiding places and kill them where they rest. And we will do the same with any remaining Al-Arynaar siding with them.
‘As to the city, well, removal of the TaiGethen threat will serve to dampen any hope your somewhat reluctant subjects have of a turnaround in their fortunes. Even so, I have a little over five hundred swordsmen, archers and mages at my disposal. Not enough to maintain the peace if there is a concerted effort to rebel. Certainly not enough to help subdue populations in other cities.’
‘And so?’ said Llyron, shooting a sharp glance at Sildaan.
‘We had the budget for the numbers we have and no more,’ said Sildaan.